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Sunday, June 19, 2011

Last week, Darryl on the 853 blog brought us the news that Joan Ruddock's Deptford seat may become Greenwich & Deptford, as the coalition government's aims to reduce the number of MPs to 600 by the next election.

Darryl writes: "The projected Greenwich and Deptford seat would include
the Peninsula, Blackheath Westcombe and Greenwich West wards from
Greenwich borough, and combine them with Lewisham’s New Cross, Evelyn,
Telegraph Hill, Brockley and Blackheath wards. It would combine parts of
the current Greenwich and Woolwich, Lewisham East and Lewisham Deptford
seats.

"It would unite the divided areas of Blackheath and Deptford under a single MP – the two areas have been split politically since Victorian times, although much more of Deptford came under Greenwich borough until the 1990s. But there are few transport links between the east and west of the predicted seat. Both Greenwich and Lewisham boroughs also have very different political cultures.

"Splitting Brockley and Ladywell wards would probably kill off the Green Party’s long-held dreams of getting its first London MP in this area. Curiously, this seat would include Millwall Football Club, but stop just short of Charlton Athletic.

Darryl also links to a Guardian article from 5 June..."Where boundaries change, MPs of the same party will also be fighting one another for reselection. Marginal seats could be made even more marginal while dozens of seats will change hands as boundaries alter the political composition of the electorate.

"The new seats will be announced from 6 September, making for a summer of uncertainty for MPs. A lengthy consultation will follow in which the parties can make representations to challenge decisions."

Darryl explains further in his comments section that Deptford will still be part of Lewisham borough, despite the parliamentary seat changes. Further confusion for Deptford's identity then, but good news for the developers who like to say that their SE8 developments are in the heart of Greenwich.